Welcome back to the Theology Business Podcast. I'm your host, Darren Sheer, author of The Marketplace Christian and Marketing Like Jesus. And this is a show that helps marketplace Christians to partner with God in business to transform the marketplace and make an impact in eternity. How do you respond in business when people make promises they either cannot or will not keep? In business, it's inevitable. There are going to be times when we have to forgive people who have cheated and stolen from us. And sometimes that forgiveness may have several zeros on the end of it, maybe three-figure forgiveness, six-figure forgiveness. You may even have to forgive larger debts depending on the size of your company. Either way, it's a horrible experience to have been cheated and stolen from in business. Could be from vendors, could be from clients, could be from your employees. In a rush to get a fancy e-commerce website built for my new health and fitness services startup back in 2011, I hired an unqualified web developer. That was mistake number one. And I paid him in advance. That was mistake number two. For the level of programming work I thought I needed, I received several quotes from reputable web developers in the range of about $25,000 to build the initial website. Considering I was a business school student at the time, this was far out of my price range. And plus, I only needed a functional prototype to show investors so that I could get funding. In my search for a less expensive option, which certainly is not always the best option, I was referred to a web developer who had a similar website to the one I needed. His site was built for a different industry than mine, but it had the basic functionality that I needed. And he promised that he could retrofit his website to the specifications that I needed for just a $5,000 what he called a licensing fee. And naively and impetuously, I paid the money. As I soon discovered, he actually did not have the skills to build what I needed, nor would he outsource the work to someone who actually was qualified. And I waited for my website for six months, hoping this person could deliver on what he had promised. And once he confessed to me that he would not deliver on what he had promised, he promptly quit responding to my request for a refund. I had never before or since felt such intense anger toward an associate in business. And at the time I was soon to be married and should have been focused on enjoying my season of engagement, yet my anger toward this person who had stolen my money was robbing me of my joy. I mean, I needed that money for an engagement ring. I needed that money for a honeymoon and for getting started in my marriage. I didn't need it to be stolen by this guy. Emotionally, it was literally a torturous experience for me. Perhaps dealing with the client's breach of contract with his fishing company, the apostle Peter once asked Jesus, Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times? No, not seven times, Jesus replied, but seventy times seven. Jesus then told a sobering story from the business world about a man who had been forgiven a financial debt he could not pay. Despite the mercy shown toward him by his creditor, this man then turned around and refused to forgive a debt that was owed to him. Jesus said that the forgiven man grabbed his debtor by the throat and demanded instant payment. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full. The master who had forgiven this unmerciful man said, You evil servant, I forgave you a tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you? Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. Jesus then explained, That's what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart. That's Matthew chapter 18. And as I reflected more deeply on how mercifully God has forgiven me for the sins I've committed, forgiving the person who had stolen this five thousand dollars from me became much easier. And rather than spending more time, money, and energy to go to court, I just forgave the guy. The emotional torture I was experiencing, which is part of the torture that Jesus promised would happen to those who refused to forgive their debtors, simply was not worth the five thousand dollars. As is often the case with scenarios like this one, that negative experience turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Because when my web development plan crumbled for my health and fitness startup, I decided to learn how to build a website myself. And as I learned how to build a basic website, I learned that I wasn't actually as passionate about that startup concept as I thought I was. And I promptly applied my newly acquired skills toward building two websites for the purpose of promoting the work of thought leaders. My act of forgiveness became the seed for the successful book publishing company I've been building over the past three years, which has now published more than 50 life-changing books for the glory of God. Now, you're probably thinking the Bible also says an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. You can't be a doormat in the business world, you're thinking. This is not about being a better doormat, it's about becoming a better steward. Good stewardship will help to minimize the amount of times the decision to forgive debts will be forced upon you. So let me explain. In addition to my experience with having $5,000 stolen from me, there have been a handful of other times when I was swindled in business, for example, clients failing to pay, etc. As I look back on these experiences, it was my own poor stewardship that opened most of these doors for me to be stolen from. And in almost every case, either my contract was not clear, I didn't do enough due diligence before making the decision, or there were not contingencies in place in the event that the contract was breached. Reflect on the times when you've been swindled and look for ways that you can become a better steward in those areas, such as asking for the Holy Spirit's discernment. Hey, what a concept. Adding a new clause or contingency into your contracts, over-communicating and being consistent with your payment policies, seeking wise counsel, waiting an extra 24 hours before making a difficult decision. And if you're the entrepreneurial type, you're gonna need those detail-oriented people even more because you're probably the getter done type that worries about the details after you've already kind of gone down the road a little bit. So get those detail-oriented people, those lawyers, accountants, people to look at your contracts and so that you can make sure that you're communicating clearly with your clients. At the same time, offenses will come no matter how strong your contracts are, and we absolutely must learn to forgive others and business as God has forgiven us. So here's a discussion.com to comment and answer this question have you ever been forced with a decision to forgive or to not forgive someone in business? And if so, how did you respond? I hope you've enjoyed this episode and I would like to hear your feedback at theologyofbusiness.com where you have more information about marketplace ministry, spiritual gifts in the marketplace, marketing like Jesus, and Christ-centered leadership and entrepreneurship. The Theology of Business Podcast is sponsored by High Bridge Books. If you're interested in publishing a book to make an impact for God's glory and the culture, head over to highbridgebooks.com forward slash course to sign up for a free free video author training course. In this course, you'll learn how to write a great nonfiction book, how to market your book, and how to start a blog to build your platform as a thought leader. Thanks for listening and keep partnering with God in your business.